


Thankful

by PhantomSunflowers



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Sparrow Academy (Umbrella Academy), Five talks for a change, Gen, Hurt, Hurt Number Five | The Boy, Hurt/Comfort, I am horrible with tags, Number Five | The Boy Needs A Hug, Number Five | The Boy Whump, The Umbrella Academy (TV) Season 2 Spoilers, Vanya and Allison being good sisters, and his siblings listen, have fun though!, sorry for that
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-28
Updated: 2020-12-28
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:08:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,174
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28390653
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PhantomSunflowers/pseuds/PhantomSunflowers
Summary: With everyone home and back in the correct timeline, Five is having some trouble with believing it all. That, combined with fatigue and a certain wound that is still bothering him, is not one of the best combinations. Maybe the only thing he can do now is opening up to his sisters, if he is ready for that.
Comments: 10
Kudos: 147





	Thankful

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! Notes will be at the end of the fic :)

The silence after travelling through time still got to him. Even after all these times doing so. It was a silence before heading into a new time, never really knowing what to expect. Always having to be ready for the next kill. 

This was that silence for Five. Not so much for his siblings, though. 

‘Oh my god, I’m going to throw up.’ It was Diego who broke the silence. He grabbed the table and swallowed hard. 

‘Puke the other way, you idiot!’ Klaus said quickly. Diego simply flipped him off. 

‘Hey guys, did we do it?’ Allison asked. She looked around, as did the rest. Five’s eyes fell on the nearest newspaper. He grabbed it, the others coming to stand around him.

‘Look! The date!’ Klaus said, pointing at it. 

‘April the second.’ Five couldn’t believe himself when he was saying it.

‘The day after the Apocalypse,’ said Luther.

Vanya felt the others’ eyes turn to her. Suddenly very cautious of how she stood, she smiled at them. 

‘Good to see I haven’t destroyed the moon this time.’ She laughed at it, grateful of how things had turned out.

Luther went to the window and looked at the sky. ‘Moon is indeed still there!’ he said, relieved. 

‘Of course it is, Vanya didn’t blow it up.’ Klaus grabbed Vanya and pulled her into a hug. ‘Well done, sister.’ 

Vanya laughed again at that, before hugging Klaus back. Together they did a little hug dance.

‘Alright! Since nothing went to hell, I think this is the best time to celebrate and get shitfaced!’ Klaus yelled. He walked straight to the bar, pulling Vanya and Allison with him. ‘Vanya, did you know that our dear sister Allison here knows a buttload about booze?!’ He talked all the way to the bar. 

Luther was about to leave as well. ‘Diego, you coming too?’ he asked.

‘No,’ Diego said right away. He was looking at Five, who was still staring at the newspaper. 

‘Hey man… you good?’ he asked.

All this time, Five had felt as if he was underwater. Like his whole world was spinning around him. It really was April the second? He had done it? He had stopped the Apocalypse from happening? And they believed it? This couldn’t be right, he must be hallucinating. Was the Commission playing tricks on him? If he stepped outside this building right now, he would be back in that godforsaken wasteland. He felt dizzy. Something was going to happen… he was sure of it.

‘Hey Five?’ Diego asked again when he didn’t get any answer. 

Five snapped out of the daze and looked at him. First with slight shock, then with murderous intentions. 

‘You good?’ Diego asked, now slightly cautious. 

‘Fine.’ 

‘You don’t look fi…’ 

‘I’m fine.’ Five spat through his teeth. 

‘Okay! Five, we’re gonna celebrate, coming too?’ Luther said, clasping his hands together.

That was the final straw for five. He needed to find out what had happened. Not any celebrations or his stupid brother fussing around.

‘No, wait a sec… Five, are you feeling well?’ Leave it to Diego to get all motherly at him. Five didn’t have time for this. He jumped, leaving the place he had just been standing in empty. 

Luther looked perplexed, Diego rolled his eyes. 

‘Looks like he hasn’t changed either.’ He sighed. Laughter came from the bar area.

‘Well, will you be joining us then?’ Luther asked again. 

Diego pulled out his knife. 

‘Jesus…’ Luther sighed, slightly in shock at seeing the knife, but not really surprised. 

‘I’m going to search the house.’ With that, Diego went upstairs.

Luther stood alone now. ‘That went well,’ he said to himself. ‘Home sweet home.’ 

Finally, he made his way to the bar. 

\--

‘What’s this?’ Klaus asked as he saw Luther enter the room. He was holding the largest gin and tonic Luther had ever seen. ‘Don’t tell me that the old grump is not coming!’ 

Luther sighed and grabbed himself a glass. Vanya and Allison both held their own gins. 

‘Of all the people I know, grandpa should be the one celebrating the most, don’t you think?’ Klaus glanced at his sisters for confirmation.

Both sisters nodded. Luther shrugged. ‘Don’t know. Diego isn’t coming either. Are we surprised here? This is Five and Diego we’re talking about.’ 

‘Alright, you’ve got a point there.’ 

Klaus grabbed Luther’s glass right out of his hands and poured him a cocktail, knowing Luther couldn’t make a good one himself if his life depended on it. ‘Here you go, big guy.’

Luther took it. 

Diego only came in a few minutes later. ‘House is clear,’ he said, walking straight up to the bar, grasping the whiskey bottle. 

‘And Five still isn’t coming?’ Vanya asked, looking in the direction Diego had just come from. 

‘Haven’t seen him. I guess he went out.’ Diego replied. 

‘Probably to get some coffee.’ Allison said. ‘I don’t blame him, after everything that happened.’

‘Coffee or getting drunk off my ass. Excuse me, I know which one I should pick!’ Klaus bellowed. 

‘Some people just have different priorities.’ Allison retorted. 

‘Said who when that little shit passed out drunk in the middle of a library?’ Diego cut in.

Klaus laughed at that. ‘Good point, good point dear brother of mine.’

He raised his glass at him. Diego ignored him but couldn’t hide the little smile that rose on his lips. 

‘Don’t worry. Five will come back.’ Allison said softly. 

‘Yeah, hopefully not with another Apocalypse this time.’ 

‘Number One, if you speak the word Apocalypse again, I will personally shove you out of this room in a heartbeat and no, you can’t take your drink!’ Klaus almost yelled. 

\--

It was very late in the evening when Five jumped back into the house. He had not found any evidence of another doomsday. Not that it’d have made him feel any better.

The house felt warm… he knew the warmth all too well, having lived 45 years missing it. His siblings must still be here, then. Probably asleep.

The idiots. 

Five placed his hand on his side as a sharp pain throbbed from it. That goddamn shrapnel wound. It had never really healed properly. It wasn’t very surprising, though, considering the two last weeks. 

Damn that grenade. Damn the whole Commission, too. For all he cared, they could all live out their lives in the post-Apocalypse. 

His side felt warm. The pain only flared up as he touched it. He glanced at his fingers, sighing in slight relief when he didn’t see any blood. But why had the pain returned then? If the stitches weren’t broken… it should have healed by now too. Especially with this younger body. And besides, he didn’t have time for this! 

His idiot brothers and sisters might think that everything was fine, but he knew better. He’d had to save their sorry asses at least three times already.

He had seen them die three times, as well. Twice in the last two weeks, for God’s sake! He wasn’t going to let there be a fourth. Not on his watch.

It was as if his body had heard the thought and was against it, because suddenly it began to protest. Five’s head began to throb heavily, his vision starting to blur. He hissed again, grabbing his head with one hand. 

What was wrong with him!? 

Had they done something to him back at the barn that he didn’t know about? They had to have… why else would his body react like this all of a sudden? Why not sooner? If they’d really done something, wouldn’t they have wanted to watch him suffer? 

Maybe it was because of the jump? But again, why? He’d jumped with a briefcase so many times before! He’d never had trouble with it. Not like this, anyway. 

So… was it from the whole time-reversing thing? That was a possibility, of course. Would his wound have reopened if he’d jumped back a few seconds more? Five could only guess. 

All these thoughts were racing through his mind, not really helping his headache in any way. It was getting worse by the second. 

Damn this 13-year-old body. It was too weak! If he could just get rid of the pain he could do what had to be done! Although he still had no idea what it was he should be doing. 

With one hand still on his side, the other on the side of his head, Five closed his eyes for just a second. Afterwards he would grab himself some coffee and then he would be on his merry way. 

No big deal. Just a second. 

‘Five, is that you?’

Vanya. Of course she had to walk into the room right when Five had just closed his eyes. And to make it worse, he flinched. Together with how he was holding himself at this moment that wasn’t a good look, Five had to admit.

Maybe he was lucky that it was Vanya who found him, and not one of his brothers or Allison. Luther would certainly have immediately had a talk with him about having to ‘listen’ to him and cooperate. Diego, unlike what many people thought of him, would become just like Mom; overprotective like a hawk. Klaus would make stupid jokes or become protective like Diego. The only difference in that was that Diego would never admit to being it. And Allison, well, she was a mother herself and it would show. 

Vanya, however… maybe she would just let him be.  
‘Hey, are you alright? What are you doing in the kitchen this late?’ she asked as she came a bit closer.  
Five blinked a few times. He was in the kitchen? He hadn’t noticed that. Shit, that meant that the coffee had been just within his grasp!  
‘Do you need anything?’ Vanya asked further.  
It dawned on Five that he’d not responded to anything yet. Vanya was making her way around the table to see him more clearly in the dark. 

‘No, just some coffee. That’s all.’ Five muttered, straightening up carefully. He didn’t want Vanya to notice that he was in pain, since it seemed that she had no clue of it yet. 

‘At 3am in the morning?’ Vanya laughed softly, tilting her head a little. 

‘Yes.’ Five replied, probably a bit more harshly than he had intended but fuck it, his head was starting to kill him. Maybe some Aspirin would do him better than coffee right now. 

‘Shouldn’t you be… asleep? Your room is still there, you know.’ She gave him a little smile.

Five smiled back, and regretted it immediately. Vanya saw everything. 

‘What’s wrong?’

Oh, sweet Vanya… she really was the only one he could stand right now. Maybe he could just tell her what was wrong. Maybe, just maybe, he could show a little weakness. 

… nah, screw that. 

‘Five?’ 

‘Don’t worry, I’m fine.’ He was pretty sure she could see right through his lie, but he also knew she wouldn’t press the matter too hard. Or rather, he hoped so. 

Five fidgeted with the hem of his blazer, choosing his words. ‘It’s just…’ he began. Then he sighed. Perhaps he wanted to show some weakness, but not this much at once! He’d only said two words but he already felt ridiculous. ‘This whole thing…’ he went on. ‘… This timeline, it doesn’t feel right to me. Us, here, the second of April… I just…’ 

He couldn’t finish his sentence. The pain in his head suddenly spiked. He grabbed his head with both hands as he doubled over and gasped, shutting his eyes tightly. 

‘Jesus, Five, what’s wrong?’ Vanya skipped the last few steps to her youngest-oldest-brother and placed her hand carefully on his shoulder.

She felt Five trembling. Her thoughts were going haywire at that moment. 

Was Five ill? Was he hurt? Was it only his head? How could this happen all the sudden? Was this why he was in the kitchen? Should she go and get Mom? Had Five had migraines before? How could she help him?

‘Five?’ she asked again as he began to whimper softly. 

Five absolutely hated this! He couldn’t hide it any longer. Lying wouldn’t help him anymore now either. He looked up at his sister, biting his lip.

‘Just a small wound, that’s all,’ he said in a weak attempt to joke. He had seen Klaus do it once and they had instantly believed him. Maybe it would work for him too. 

Dread took over Vanya at those words. She never wanted any of her siblings saying that ever again. Especially not Five. 

‘Wound? Where? How bad?’ Her voice was stern and full of concern.

With a pained sigh, Five pulled his shirt up to reveal the fucked up, half-healed shrapnel wound. His heart was hammering in his chest as he placed all his trust in his sister. 

Vanya’s heart was doing the same thing. Her eyes went wide when she saw the wound. The room was pretty dark, so she couldn’t really see it well. What she did see was that the wound was already stitched up. Had Mom done that? 

‘Five…’ Vanya’s voice was softer now. She sounded just like Mom for a second. 

Carefully, Vanya placed her fingers next to the wound. She didn’t even touch the wound, but Five hissed and pulled away from her. 

‘Sorry!’ Vanya looked at him again, her hands a bit in the air to show she wasn’t going to do it again. 

‘No, it’s fine. It’s just… to be honest… it really hurts.’ Five whispered, pulling his shirt back down. ‘Don’t tell the other,’ he added quickly. 

‘Five, the others will find out eventually, you know that, right?’ 

There was so much concern in her voice. Why was he so fixated on her voice all of a sudden? Did he normally do that? He didn’t know. Fuck, his head really hurt. Even thinking was becoming harder. 

In the meantime, Vanya was watching his side again, although Five had pulled down his shirt. She was clearly thinking. 

‘Your skin was too warm. Hold on, let me turn on the lights to have a better look.’ 

She stood up. Five’s skin had felt way too hot. Almost as if it was infected. She had to have a better look… she couldn’t help him otherwise. 

Before Five’s fuzzy mind could register that he should stop her, blinding pain shot through his head. It was like hammers slamming around inside his skull. He cried out, doubling over despite the pain still coming from his side. It felt almost as worse as the gunshots back in the barn at this point. He grabbed his hair as he tried to steady himself. Which didn’t really work. 

Somewhere in the distance, Five could hear Vanya calling out to him. Surely the pain couldn’t get any worse now, right? Vanya’s voice would become clearer, his vision would go back to normal… he would be fine in about a few seconds. 

He was wrong. 

He tried to stand upright, mostly because he didn’t want to scare Vanya any further. When he did so, the pain in his head skyrocketed, making him cry out again, louder this time, his voice high and trembling. To make it even worse, his legs decided that this was the best moment to give out, making him collapse to the floor. 

‘Wow, wow, wow!’ Vanya knelt down with him, taking a hold of him to keep him steady. Now that the lights were on though, she could finally have a better look at him. 

His brother was far too pale. Almost deathly pale. Sweat was beading on his head and neck. Black circles surrounded his closed eyes and aside from the obvious pain he was in, Five looked… tired. Really tired. When was the last time he’d slept? Had he slept at all since he’d come back? She didn’t know! Surely he must have. 

The pain in Five’s head was making him crazy. To try and get rid of it, he leaned even more towards the ground. Breathing was getting harder now too. It resulted in making him nauseous.

Vanya stood up again, without Five even noticing. ‘Five, it’s okay, the lights are off now.’ She said when she came back. ‘I’m so sorry that I turned them on.’ Her hand was back on his shoulder, trying to give him comfort by making circles. 

She should have realized how bad it was simply from the fact that Five was okay with her doing this. She only noticed it after a few seconds, making her even more worried. 

‘What’s going on in here?’ 

Vanya, still holding a trembling Five, glanced behind her. 

‘Allison!’ she said, careful not to speak too loudly because Five had made a pained noise when Allison had spoken. 

Allison had heard a pained cry, followed with the sound of someone falling to the ground. So, she had come to check out what was the matter. 

She came into the kitchen, not expecting to see her sister holding Five, both on the ground… with Five making the most pained little noises she had ever heard from him. 

‘Oh my god, Five?’ Allison asked immediately, crouching down beside Vanya. ‘What happened?’ 

‘I…I don’t know. He was standing here, and he was in pain…’ Vanya answered. ‘So, I turned on the lights to have a better look but apparently that triggered some kind of migraine.’ She looked at Allison. ‘I’ve never seen Five have a migraine before.’ 

Allison nodded. It certainly wasn’t common for him.

Five sucked in a breath through his teeth again. Even though his sisters were talking very softly, it made his head throb. 

He had his head as low as he could, almost touching the ground now. His whole body was a shaking mess. And to have a fucking cherry on top, he had started crying… and Allison had noticed. 

‘Oh Five…’ Allison whispered. She placed her hand on his other shoulder. ‘We should get him somewhere more comfortable.’ With that, she tried to move Five. 

‘Allison, wait, he is…’ Vanya stopped her. 

‘I’m sorry Vanya, but I am really not comfortable with him being on the cold kitchen floor… We will have a proper look at him once he is on the couch, okay?’ She quickly flashed a smile at her sister, before going back to her task. 

Five wasn’t whimpering anymore, which the sisters took as a good sign. He hadn’t looked up, however. 

‘Vanya, if you can grab his legs, we can carry him to the couch.’ Allison said, crouching down behind Five. Carefully, she pulled him against her by his shoulders. He gave a groan as he literally fell against her. He didn’t let go of his head. Vanya looked at him. Even in the dark she could see that his lip was bleeding. Definitely from biting his lip to contain the pain. She had seen him do that before, when they were just kids. 

‘Five, we are going to move you, alright?’ Allison said to prepare him for the trip.

Five only gave the smallest nod in return. He was pretty out of it. 

Together, Vanya and Allison picked him up from the ground. A small whine escaped Five’s lips when he was moved. It broke their hearts to hear him like that. 

‘This reminds me far too much of when Diego and I had to do this,’ Allison muttered as they made their way over to the couch. 

‘You had to do this before?’ Vanya asked. 

Allison sighed. ‘He had a shrapnel wound. The idiot almost bled out. Diego and I had to carry him back to the house. Mom patched him up back then.’ 

They got to the couch and gently lowered Five on it. In the dim light he looked even paler than before. 

‘How did he get that shrapnel wound?’ Vanya asked softly. ‘And by any chance… was it on his side?’ 

Allison brushed Five’s hair from his sweaty forehead now that he wasn’t grabbing his head anymore. Which was another good sign.

‘Yes, why?’ 

Slowly so as to not hurt Five, Vanya pulled up his shirt. Allison cursed.

‘But how is that possible? Mom had stitched him up. This was more than… a year ago.’ Realization hit her. ‘But not a year for him. So, all this time… he has been running around with this wound!? Dammit Five.’ The last words she muttered more to herself. ‘I should have known.’

‘You know how he is, more occupied by saving the world than by taking care of himself.’ Vanya whispered. 

‘Saving us, more likely.’ Allison whispered back. 

Vanya, who was crouching by the couch, stood up to go to the sink. She came back with a cold wet towel and a tissue. The towel she gave to Allison. ‘Here, this might help his headache.’ With the tissue she began to wipe away the blood from Five’s lips. 

Five had laid his arm over his eyes to shut out the little light in the room. He immediately tensed up when Allison placed the cold towel on his head. His breath hitched and quickened. Weakly, he tried to slap her hand away, finally coming back to the world a bit. 

‘Easy Five, it’s okay. You’re okay.’ Allison whispered. They watched as Five slowly opened his eyes. At least he tried to. Even though the room was as dark as it could get, it still really hurt his eyes. Still, he tried. He needed to know what was going on. For all he knew the world had ended again. 

Someone took his hand in theirs. He pulled away instantly. Allison held his other hand in his, so he couldn’t slap her away anymore. 

Slowly, Five managed to finally open his eyes. Vanya clenched her teeth. He looked so tired. 

‘Wha… what happened?’ Five asked, very annoyed at his own weakness. 

‘I think you had some sort of migraine.’ Vanya started. ‘That together with…’

‘Five. Slow down.’ Allison’s stern voice cut Vanya off. 

Rightfully so, because Five was trying to sit up. 

‘I’m fine,’ he muttered. 

Weakly but with determination he slapped the towel away again. Allison laid her hand on his chest. 

‘You’re clearly not. Or do you want to explain to us why we had to drag you to the couch while you couldn’t let go of your head?’ 

Five, despite still clearly being in pain, didn’t give up so easily. 

‘Like I said, I’m fine… Can’t I just sit up?’ he said, fully annoyed now. 

‘If you promise not to pass out.’ Vanya said, making Allison sigh. She didn’t want Five to move just yet, let alone sit up. But they couldn’t win against the stubbornness of their brother. She knew that just as well as Vanya did. 

Five gave Vanya a sour look. ‘Of course, I can.’ He had just the slightest bit of doubt in his voice. 

Both sisters stared him down as he began to sit up. 

‘Can you not look at me like I am a wounded puppy?’ he asked through his teeth. 

‘Don’t pass out on the kitchen floor then.’ Vanya said. Five’s eyes narrowed. Blue energy surrounded his hands as he wanted to blink away right then and there. Only thing was that he couldn’t, of course. Thankfully, his sisters didn’t say anything about it. 

It took some effort — a lot of it to be honest — but Five managed to sit upright on his own. His eyes tightly closed again, he breathed through the sudden spike of pain in his head. Even with his eyes shut, the whole world was spinning around him.  
‘Five, have you ever had a headache like this before?’ It was Allison who asked him.  
Without opening his eyes, Five gave a silent yes. ‘In the Apocalypse, once… years ago.’ 

Talking was hard. Why was everything so hard? Damn his weakness.

‘When I was young,’ he added. 

‘Did you get enough sleep while you were there? Did you sleep at all?!’ Allison asked, placing the towel back on Five’s brow.

This time, he didn’t do anything to stop her. On the contrary, he placed his own hand on it to keep it there himself. 

‘Of course I did,’ he scrawled. 

But the memories of waking up all alone still haunted him. Not to mention the amount of nightmares he had… still… had. 

Sometimes he wanted to tell them everything. Trust them with his whole heart. To tell them how scared he had been, how utterly alone. How glad he was to be back with them, but how hard it was for him as well. But to show them all that fragility... he didn’t want that. 

Water from the towel streamed down the side of his face. 

‘When did you last sleep?’ Vanya asked. 

Now that was the million-dollar question! It made Five laugh, then wince, then laugh again.

‘I… slept a bit when we were at Elliot’s,’ he answered. 

‘And how many days ago was that?’ Allison pushed.

‘4… 5 days ago? I don’t really remember.’ 

Five sighed, giving up. If he was to trust his sisters, he better be honest himself first. Even if it hurt his pride in every way possible. 

‘Five!’ 

‘Hey, in my defense, if I had slept more then we would probably still be stuck there right now! I had to stop doomsday!’ Talking about the ending of the world again gave him new energy. He opened his eyes and looked Allison dead in the eye. ‘It wasn’t as if you all wanted to work along now, was it?’ He literally spat the words, the fatigue showing through from his actions. The pain in his side flared up for a second. ‘I couldn’t go to sleep,’ he said with less wrath than before. 

A silence fell. Allison and Vanya both felt ashamed. Five was right, they had made it very hard for him, and they realized that now. 

‘You can sleep now,’ Vanya said softly. 

‘I wish it was that easy, Vanya,’ Five admitted. ‘… I will pass out eventually.’ 

Another silence as both sisters processed what he’d just said. 

‘That’s what you’ve always done, isn’t it?’ Vanya asked. 

‘What does it matter?’ Five muttered, now giving Vanya the death glare. 

Vanya wasn’t fazed by it. She smiled at him like she understood him. Five wanted to yell at her and hug her all at the same time. 

‘It matters because we care about you. You don’t have to do everything alone anymore. You can sleep now.’ 

Bullshit. Five didn’t believe a word of it. 

Still, he started biting his lip again. ‘I can’t. I never can. You have no idea of all the things that I’ve done, all the things that I had to do to get back.’ He stumbled a bit as the words fell out of his mouth. It made him grip his side even more. 

‘But Five, you are back. Everything is okay now,’ Allison said. 

‘No, it’s not. Something will happen. Something always happens. I can’t save you all when I’m asleep,’ he said, frustrated. 

‘You can’t save us if you faint from exhaustion! And you can’t save us at all if you kill yourself hiding your injuries from us!’ Vanya suddenly snapped. She couldn’t take seeing her brother like this. Especially since she had already lost him for 16 years. She couldn’t just sit by and watch Five destroy himself. ‘Jesus, Five, just… listen to us, alright? Please.’ 

Shocked, Five looked at his sister, but didn’t say anything. Vanya took it as a sign that she finally had his full attention. 

‘Five, you’ve had to run for almost all your life. Firstly, to simply stay alive, right? Then to try and get back to us.’ 

Five opened his mouth to protest, but Vanya was having none of it. 

‘No, let me speak,’ she said so fast that it made Five look at Allison for a second, hoping that she would help him out. But Allison was looking at Vanya with a fierce pride. 

‘All you’ve ever known, for all these years, is running and things going to shit. But you don’t have to run anymore, okay? The world is still here, I am not going to blow it up again. You are safe, and finally able to… to take some rest because if there is a person here who deserves that more than anyone, it is you, Five.’ 

Five stared at her. It was hard to hear, especially because she had a point. He just couldn’t accept it just yet. 

‘It’s not that simple,’ he said. 

‘Yes, it is,’ Allison said softly. She placed her hand on his shoulder. ‘Like Vanya said, you deserve it. And if you don’t want to have nightmares, then…’ 

‘They are not nightmares,’ Five spat. 

‘Alright. If you don’t want to be alone, then,’ Allison went on, seemingly uncaring of the harsh tone in Five’s voice, ‘we will stay with you while you take some rest. You won’t be alone.’ 

Five looked at her and how she smiled at him. They understood. Maybe not all of it, but just enough.

‘You two will not let this down, will you?’ he whispered. 

‘Nope!’ both sisters replied as one. 

Five sighed, closing his eyes again, clearly thinking. Or more like fighting with himself. He didn’t want to give in. He had to keep going! But, fuck, his sisters were right… he was so tired. 

‘Alright…’ he began, more hesitantly than before. ‘I’ll take some rest. But only… if you really promise to… stay with me.’ 

God, he hated how small he sounded. Like a small child, too scared to be alone in the dark. Which he wasn’t! 

‘We promise, Five,’ Allison said. Vanya nodded as well. 

Allison sat down next to her brother. ‘Come on, rest your head.’ 

Five’s eyes widened. 

‘Allison. No,’ he whispered. 

Allison, however, pulled him towards her. Five didn’t even try to stop her. Before he knew it, he was lying with his head on her lap. And oh… how his whole body was thanking him that he was finally lying down! He sighed softly. 

‘Are you comfortable?’ Allison asked with a laugh.

Five stiffened. He had let his guard down way too easily! 

‘This is only for this one time,’ he said quickly, making sure that they knew that if they tried this ever again, he would kill them. 

‘Of course.’ Allison smiled. 

One of the sisters drew a blanket over him. ‘We will be right here,’ Vanya promised. 

A few minutes passed in silence. 

‘Thank you.’ 

Both Allison and Vanya looked up. ‘Sorry, what was that?’ Allison asked. 

She had heard it, but she wasn’t sure she’d heard it correctly, since it was still Five who was lying on her lap. Which she couldn’t believe either. 

‘Thank you. And you heard me,’ Five repeated more clearly. 

Allison went through his hair. ‘Anytime, Five.’ 

Vanya leaned in closer to him. ‘And don’t worry.’ she whispered. ‘We won’t tell anyone.’

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading!  
> It is my first fic for The Umbrella Academy fandom, I really hope you liked it. 
> 
> Also a huge thank you for my incredible beta reader Erdariel, you can find her on Tumblr; @erdarielthewhumper  
> She is amazing, I am learning a lot from her! 
> 
> Lastly, I want to point out that I started writing this fic before the brilliant Elliot Page came out as transgender. Regarding the pronouns for Vanya, I have decided to leave them as she/her for now. If the show will change Vanya's pronouns, I will change them in my fic as well :)
> 
> Feel free to comment since that really gives me the drive to write more! :D


End file.
